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Quiet Shutter


sm23221

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In my experience they all make a slightly different sound - the M7 makes a quiet and harmonic 'thwock' sound, the M6 is a very slightly louder 'clack' (but still relatively quiet) and the M2 is a 'snick'. Of these I'd say the 'snick' of the M2 is marginally quietest of the bunch, but compared to the digital Ms they're all practically silent.

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I would have said that the M7 was more of a "thwip" and the M2 a "thwidd". The MP appears to be louder than either - a sort of "THwidd".

 

Of course at lower shutter speeds all of them sound like "thwisssssssstt"

 

:rolleyes:;)

 

Regards,

 

Bill

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I'd agree with Bill, the M7 is quietest especially At lower speeds when it's silent v mechanical whirring.

 

Leica Ms aren't silent, a leaf shutter camera is as quiet as you can get. It's rather like the Rolls Royce ads that said the only noise you could hear when being driven in one was the ticking of the clock. They wouldn't get away with it now!!

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The sound varies noticeably within the same model?

 

Yes, and the feelings of winding and shutter firing are all noticeably different.

None of my M4 sounds the same.

When I trigger the shutter, the "shutter feeling and travel" depends on model too.

 

I think that those small differences come from these "hand adjusted M4" and number of replaced (or not) shutter modules.

 

Arnaud

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Yes, and the feelings of winding and shutter firing are all noticeably different.

None of my M4 sounds the same.

When I trigger the shutter, the "shutter feeling and travel" depends on model too.

 

I think that those small differences come from these "hand adjusted M4" and number of replaced (or not) shutter modules.

 

Arnaud

 

Confirmed

M2, M4 and M4-2 all have large difference, between individual models.

Some of the audio is from the shutter brakes, which do wear a bit... and the spring tension can vary...

M4-2 and later are not individually adjusted, for most parameters...

 

Noel

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I have an M4-P, an M6 TTL, and (soon to be sold) an M7. I agree with what others have said that the M7 seems to be (haven't actually measured it) a tiny bit quieter than the other ones and that each of them sounds a bit different.

 

However, the more important point I'd like to make is that it doesn't make a difference in practice. The Ms are quiet enough to be missed in environments with a certain sound level like a busy street. But so are many other cameras. The shutter still makes noticeable sounds in relatively silent rooms, though, no matter which model you have.

 

I would for example think that my old 35 RD is quieter. It still isn't so quiet that you can't hear it... ;)

 

I think the right word for the sound of cameras like the M is that they are "unobtrusive". If you dream of shooting others without being noticed, forget about it. However, if your goal is to take a few photos in a silent setting without getting on others' nerves, an M might do a better job than many SLRs.

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The quietest camera I have ever heard is the Sigma DP1. It uses an electronic leaf shutter that makes the tiniest 'snck' sound, quieter than other digital compacts like the Canon G10 and S90, which are very quiet indeed. Its lens extension is louder. The Olympus XA2 has a twangy 'clickclick' by comparison, and my M7, while quiet, is still loud enough.

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